The mayor, known as Red Ken for his left-leaning ways, invoked the "warmth and sympathy" Britons feel for an old ally against Hitler.

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As the head of the Greater London Council (GLC) in the 1980s, Livingstone earned the moniker "Red Ken" for standing up to Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on a number of issues.

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The reasons for this may be many but the issue of whether the early front runner 'Red' Ken Livingstone may be allowed to stand lies at the heart of the matter.

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